Jesus Comes After Sick People

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)

I am glad that Jesus comes after sick people. In Luke 5, Jesus pursues a man with leprosy, a paralyzed man, a social outcast who collects taxes for Rome, and even calls some people peripheral to society to be His closest followers. Jesus does not always look for the respectable people. No, what He most often does is to search after those who know they need help. He heals them (the leper), He forgives them (the paralyzed man), He spends time with them (the tax collector), and He commissions them for His purposes (the disciples).

I am glad that Jesus comes after sick people. I grew up in a Christian home, but when Jesus truly took hold of my life I was sick. He sought after me. He confronted me with His truth and I knew I needed help. He saturated me with His grace and I knew I had hope. He called me out to serve Him and I knew I had a purpose. I am sure that you have a story of your own about when and how Jesus came after you.

But here is the pertinent question for those of us who are following Christ today: are we still glad that Jesus comes after sick people? Do we let Him seek after the sick and needy through us? Do we let Him take us to risky or uncomfortable places so that He can place His hands on the lives of people who need healing and life?

If He has come after us and reached us, may He also come after others and reach them through us.